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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by dingus@lemmy.world to c/general@lemmy.world

I know the question is a bit vague, but I'm hoping people will interpret this however they see fit an give their own experiences.

To be honest, I'm struggling a bit with this right now and would enjoy reading others' experiences.

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[-] Transcendant@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

I have aphantasia so one of my techniques for generating happiness while sad might be more effective for you than me... but if I'm feeling really sad, I try to imagine a kitten, riding a puppy, riding a baby goat, riding a baby hippo, riding a baby elephant. Baby animals are always cute and funny, the idea of them all balancing atop each other is ridiculous enough to make me at least crack a smile.

Usually the first step out of sadness or depression is like cracking a door open to reveal a shard of light. We have muscle memory linked to our smile muscles, so whether we feel like smiling or not, finding a way to crack one releases feelgood endorphins.

Then we can take another step towards being happier; exercise, tidying / cleaning our home, going for a walk, getting a task out of the way which we've been avoiding.

If you've never used Audible before, you can sign up for a free trial and keep one book forever; I highly recommend anyone struggling atm use this to get 'Derren Brown - Happy'. The guy is almost literally a mind wizard, the first few chapters explain common self-help fallacies and why they're not effective... iirc chapter 6 / 7 is when he starts introducing a toolkit to increase happiness. It changed my brain though, and I've listened to it several times now. Lots of very useful mental strategies and philosophical tools.

this post was submitted on 19 Jul 2023
126 points (97.0% liked)

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